INTRODUCTION

[Note to the ASEAN Wonk Community: The ASEAN Wonk Team conducted an exclusive interview on February 11 with the president of The Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam previewing its hosting of the upcoming ASEAN Future Forum scheduled for February 25-26. We are running this as a special episode of our ASEAN Wonk Podcast. The wide-ranging discussion covers minilaterals in the shifting regional institutional landscape; middle power diplomacy; Vietnam’s foreign policy prospects in a “new era” as it prepares for its next party congress in 2026; and much more].

Our guest today is Dr. Nguyen Hung Son, who is the acting president of the Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam and served over two decades in Vietnam's foreign ministry in various roles, including at the ASEAN department. We start the conversation talking about Vietnam’s current foreign policy posture and previewing its upcoming hosting of the ASEAN Future Forum later this month, a new forum within the regional landscape. Make sure you tune into the full episode as we go through other subjects, including the regional tech race, middle power diplomacy, minilateralism and where Vietnam’s bamboo diplomacy is headed with its upcoming party congress in 2026.

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VIETNAM FOREIGN POLICY EVOLUTION AND THE ROLE OF MULTILATERALISM AND ASEAN

ASEAN Wonk: So welcome to the podcast Hung Son and let's get started. I'm wondering if you could help contextualize Vietnam’s ties with ASEAN within its wider foreign policy approach, which is centered around various components including multidirectionality. Vietnam joining ASEAN in 1995 was arguably one of the major post-Cold War shifts in the region, given some of the regional tensions that existed previously. We're now at 30 years since Vietnam joined ASEAN, and Vietnam has made several contributions along the way. You've worked as a diplomat in various roles, including on ASEAN affairs. How have you seen Vietnam's perceptions of ASEAN evolve over time during this period within its foreign policy?

Dr. Nguyen Hung Son: Well, first of all, thank you for including me in this very interesting podcast. Well, it's a very good question. We’re marking the thirtieth anniversary of Vietnam entering into ASEAN and becoming a formal ASEAN member. And I would say that becoming an ASEAN member is one of the most successful Vietnam's foreign policies. Why so? Because right after the Cold War, we were a member of the Eastern Bloc, the Soviet Bloc members, and we were more confrontational to ASEAN. But after the Cold War ended, we sought to become a member of ASEAN, and that has opened up the new whole world for Vietnam. And that was the beginning of Vietnam entering into regional integration, international integration, and that was the foundation of the success that we've enjoyed over the past nearly four decades. So arguably, ASEAN membership provided us a lot. And ASEAN today is one of the most important pillars of Vietnam foreign policy. And Vietnam is seeking to or is trying to become an even more active member of the regional and international community. And ASEAN is absolutely indispensable for that journey of Vietnam, in its international integration.

So that's the importance of ASEAN to Vietnam. And as a diplomat, I started out as an expert in the ASEAN department of the ministry. I observed that journey, and I've seen how more active Vietnam has become in ASEAN business within the region. And today, we have this ASEAN Future Forum, which is a Vietnam's initiative, which represents the contribution that Vietnam is trying to make to ASEAN at a very critical juncture of the organization development. So that's the context of the ASEAN Future Forum that we are going to have in two weeks' time.

BAMBOO DIPLOMACY IN VIETNAM’S FOREIGN POLICY APPROACH

ASEAN Wonk: And can I ask you: one of the labels that we've heard about on Vietnam's foreign policy approach in recent years has been this idea of “bamboo diplomacy” right? Bending, not breaking. The idea of principles symbolized by a sturdy trunk and firm roots, but also flexible adjustments in terms of the branches. How does ASEAN fit in within that perspective of bamboo diplomacy? Because obviously, it's a very stormy geopolitical environment for Vietnam to navigate.

Dr. Nguyen Hung Son: Okay. That's another very good question. Bamboo diplomacy, it's a great metaphor that depicts Vietnam's foreign policy qualities. And one of those qualities is to stick together with allies and friends in order to be strong, in order to be resilient.

“Bamboo diplomacy, it's a great metaphor that depicts Vietnam's foreign policy qualities. And one of those qualities is to stick together with allies and friends in order to be strong, in order to be resilient.”

And that's precisely what ASEAN is for Vietnam. It provides the solidarity. It provides the added strength that a country alone would not have. And that's critically important at this time, as you said, a very stormy weather, where more countries are pushed and pulled by the forces of great power competition. You need friends. You need allies. And ASEAN is Vietnam’s home. ASEAN is Vietnam ally in order to stay strong in such a geopolitical weather that Vietnam is experiencing. So if you want to use the metaphor of the bamboo, then the bamboo banded together through ASEAN is what Vietnam is looking for.

SOUTHEAST ASIA’S INSTITUTIONAL LANDSCAPE AND THE ASEAN FUTURE FORUM IN PERSPECTIVE

ASEAN Wonk: Great. I wanted to transition to talk about the ASEAN Future Forum. And the Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam, which you're the acting president of, is very well known for convening a lot of these dialogues. I had the benefit of participating in one of those dialogues in September last year. The ASEAN Future Forum, as you mentioned earlier, is quite a significant development. A lot of the dialogues regionally in Southeast Asia tend to be concentrated primarily in maritime Southeast Asia. So if you look at the broader Indo-Pacific or global interactions like the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, or if you look at the Asia-Pacific Roundtable in Malaysia, this is really a big initiative by Vietnam that helps also distribute the sort of convening role more within Southeast Asia as well. So it's quite a significant development.

Alongside that, we have seen Vietnam also take other convening initiatives. We saw the defense exhibition that just occurred in Vietnam a few months ago. Vietnam has worked with the World Economic Forum on a number of events prior to this. Can you help us conceptualize what was the origin process of the ASEAN Future Forum and how it was socialized and came to be? Because these are not very easy undertakings for any country. And you having been part of this initiative at the Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam, with Vietnam and the government, how do you see that process of the origin and the socialization?

Dr. Nguyen Hung Son: Well yes. You're right. There are a lot of activities within ASEAN already. ASEAN is known to be an organization with a lot of meetings, and many of the initiatives are taken by the so-called maritime ASEAN members. We have the Shangri-La Dialogue. We have the Asia-Pacific Roundtable by Malaysia and so on. And so we thought, well, many people thought that adding more meetings into the ASEAN business is very tough.

But nevertheless, Vietnam thought that, well, no matter how many or how much discussion there are on ASEAN, it’s not enough. Especially at this critical juncture, you need more talk, and talk is what is lacking in the international community at the moment. People needed to have more talks. And especially in this region, we needed more strategic talks. We needed to think out of the box. We needed to be more innovative, be more creative, to look back, reflect on ASEAN, and see squarely what challenges ASEAN faces and to provide out of the box solutions or recommendations to the organizations. Hence, we proposed the idea of a Track 1.5 dialogue that is dedicated to ASEAN. That is what is lacking in this region. We have several similar Track 1.5 undertakings – the Shangri-La Dialogue, the Asia-Pacific Roundtable, the defense dialogue by Indonesia, the Jeju Forum, and so on. But none of them is dedicated to ASEAN and its relationship wi